Windy Sydney

First, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday :) I had a good one. I spent the entire day eating junk food, walking around in flannel pajamas and plotting enemies' demise.

One of my favorite YouTube pals made this video titled, "If You Were God." If you have the time, check it out!

NoTrueScotsman also shared the text for the video, and I hope he doesn't mind me passing it along on my blog. I just want to make it clear that I didn't write or gather this... all credit goes to him. If you check out more of his videos, you will love them as much as I do, I'm sure.

Let's say that you're an omniscient, omnipotent deity who created the universe, the cosmos, life, and humanity.

Let's also say that the foremost concern in your all-knowing mind was to be believed in by your human creations.

In fact, whether someone believed in you or not was so important that not to believe in you would condemn any such unfortunate soul to an eternity of punishment after death.

For instance, a mass murderer who had a deathbed conversion to believing in you stood a better chance of a happy afterlife than a moral, charitable person who did NOT believe in you. This is how important belief in you would be.

If belief in you were so crucial, if so much hung in the balance on this one issue alone, wouldn't you want to make your presence known to everyone in an obvious way? Wouldn't you want to make it clear to all humanity, with no room for doubt, that you existed? Maybe you'd give every human an innate knowledge of the reality of your being.

Or would you make it a game? Would you manifest yourself in no obvious way so that believers would need to take your existence as an article of faith? Would you leave so much room for doubt that many would believe in another god, or no god at all?

So, if they failed to win the game, if they died unconvinced of your existence, you would then condemn these unwilling players to an eternity of torment.

Does that sound reasonable to you?

Let's say at some point in time, you wanted to make your inconspicuous existence more conspicuous to lots of people. What would you do?

Maybe you'd announce your existence to every man, woman, and child on earth, so it would be impossible to doubt that you are who you are. Or if that's too showy for you, maybe you'd make your presence known by sending a messenger, an entity unmistakably from somewhere other than earth.

Or, again, would you make it a game?

Would you have this messenger take human form, going so far as to have him born from a flesh-and-blood woman, a human intermediary? Maybe this messenger-in-human-form would do a few things that ordinary humans couldn't, but his form would still be human — it would be human enough for many people to doubt that you sent him, and sent him specifically to confirm your existence and your power.

Does THAT sound reasonable to you?

If it does, I'd have to question if believing in you was really so important to you after all. Maybe you were just looking for an excuse to send hapless souls to an unpleasant afterlife.

Now, lets take another hypothetical.

Let's say its 2,000 years ago, and you're a human being living in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire. You come across this preacher — there are a lot of them there at the time — and he says some really profound things, profound things like:


"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."


And its no real surprise that he says such wise things because he grew up near a cosmopolitan Roman port city, and was probably influenced by the culture there.

In fact, what he says is so radical, and he shakes up the establishment so much, you have a hard time believing you have the same religion. So, you reach the conclusion that he is the messenger that your god has been promising you for a long time.

But for one reason or another, he gets into deep political danger, and the local leaders talk the Roman authorities into executing him — giving him the worst of all deaths under Roman law: the humiliating death of a common criminal — crucifixion.

You say to yourself: This isn't right! He was such a wise teacher! He was Gods chosen messenger, or could have been! He shouldn't have been struck down like a petty thief, a petty murderer!

So, you tell yourself that you must turn his humiliating death into a glorious one. You must make his degrading death an important and necessary part of what it means to be your gods messenger.

I'm sure that there are alternate hypotheticals that we could explore. But of the two that I just gave you, which one sounds like it has the greatest potential to be true?

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Pat Robertson.

Just hearing that name makes my blood pressure rise. He is one of the biggest douchebags in religious history. Don't take my word for it, let the Amazing Atheist give you the real scoop:



Yeah, so Pat Robertson says Haiti was hit by an earthquake and thousands of people will die because of lack of supplies, because the people there made a pact with the devil?

What the flying fuck is wrong with this guy?

He is so full of shit that I can't even stand looking at his ugly mug for longer than 4 minutes. He makes me sick.

How is it that people look to him as a religious leader? People actually listen to him, ask his spiritual advice, give him money, and look up to him as something they should aspire to be like. All he has to do, as the Amazing Atheist said, is put the "God" band-aid on it.

Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell didn't hate anyone... God did.



So, let me add to the growing number of people asking Robertson and his followers this question:

"If God is sick enough to wipe out an entire group of people in Haiti, including children, infants, toddlers, and unborn fetuses, because of some pact with Satan the kids had nothing to do with, why should we worship this God?"

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I posted a clip of this amazing piece of art by Julia Sweeney a long time ago, but today I had the opportunity to watch the entire performance. If you haven't seen this, you are REALLY missing out.

It's smart, funny, and she has the ability to take you on the journey of having faith to coming to the realization that maybe...

Just maybe...

The fairy tales we were all taught as children are just that... fairy tales.

If you have the time, you should check it out.

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Sarah Palin has just signed a multi-year deal with Faux-News.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will appear on Fox News as a contributor, The New York Times' Jim Rutenberg reports here.

Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice presidential nominee, has penned a multi-year deal with the network, but will not have her own program, Rutenberg said.

Are you kidding me? As if I needed yet another reason to hate this so-called "news" station? I wonder how long thing deal has been in the works, and I wonder how much she is going to get paid.

Fox News executives and Palin have confirmed the news in a statement:

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has signed a multi-year deal with FOX News to serve as a contributor across all FOX News platforms, announced Bill Shine, Executive Vice President of Programming.

In making the announcement, Shine said, “Governor Palin has captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum and we are excited to add her dynamic voice to the FOX News lineup.” As a contributor, Palin will provide political commentary and analysis for FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOXNews.com, and FOX News-produced special event political programming for FOX Broadcasting.

In addition, she will host periodic episodes of FNC’s “Real American Stories,” a series exploring inspirational real-life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape that will debut in 2010.

Palin added, “I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at FOX News. It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

Fair and balanced my ass.

Oh, and it looks like she is going to be buddied up with Bill O-Reilly.

Palin will make her first appearance as a Fox pundit Tuesday night on The O'Reilly Factor. That news was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.

If I believed in God or the end of the world, I might be a little worried about the Apocalypse. This has got to be one of the scariest things I have read in a looooong time.

She will put her foot in her mouth at some point and remind everyone how lucky the US was that Obama won the election. She sucks. She sucks bad.

One of the things that scares me the most about this woman is that she believes the Bible should be taken literally. She has also stated that she believes that Jesus will return to earth during her lifetime.

The people in her church believe in demons, witchcraft, speaking in tongues, Holy War, and once asked questions about how to go about banning books.

A video about Sarah's church:



Andee

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Watchdog Group Says Prop. 8 Vote 'Probably Corrupted'

By Patrick Range McDonald

A new study by the Election Defense Alliance, a national, non-profit election watchdog group, reports that the November, 2008, vote to take away the existing right of gays and lesbians to legally marry in California through Proposition 8 was "probably corrupted."

EDA co-founders Sally Castleman and Jonathan Simon write that the watchdog group conducted exit polling at 19 precincts on Election Day, 2008, in Los Angeles County, the major swing county in California that supposedly voted in favor of the gay marriage ban.

EDA then found a huge disparity between the exit polling numbers and the official vote count, with more L.A. County residents actually voting against Proposition 8.

"It is beyond the scope of this study to know if any corruption was due to honest error or intentional fraud," Castleman and Simon write. "Further investigation is warranted."

EDA released its findings on its Web site.

"Deviations between exit polls and official results far outside margins of error cannot be explained away by demographics or polling factors," EDA writes. "The facts established in these reports cannot responsibly be dismissed or evaded."

Wow, wish I could say that I was shocked by this study, but I'm not. Not surprised at all.

It seems to be that the people who love to claim that they are more righteous than everyone else are usually the same people who end up acting so wrong.

I still don't understand how the Mormon Church got away with what they did during that election. Asking it's members to donate time, money, to call people in California on the phone encouraging them to vote for the ban. What killed me was the amount of people in Utah involved in volunteering to help the church. The vote had nothing to do with Utah, yet people all over the Beehive State were freaking out and acting as if their children would turn gay if the proposition didn't pass.

I remember getting emails from my Mormon family members giving false information about gay marriage, asking me to donate money to help fight against the "evil" of gay marriage.

"Evil?" I asked. "How is it evil?"

"It just is. It just is."

People went on and on about "protecting" marriage! Protecting it from WHAT???

You certainly are not protecting marriage from the millions of divorces that take place in the United States of America. I mean, if you want to protect something, why do you make it so easy to divorce?

It's such a blatant slap in the face to the basic civil rights of a group of people that I can't see how Mormons don't see it!!

I guess the Church, as well as other religions, only change when they are forced to. When they are called out and given an ultimatum. We have seen this will polygamy, with blacks receiving the priesthood... you name it.

How does gay marriage hurt straight marriage?

How???

Please believing Mormons who read this blog... please answer that question for me!

Is it because you think that allowing gay marriage will somehow make your children gay? Are you so worried that your own children will be attracted to the same sex that you think hiding the idea that many gay and lesbian families are living happily in the world today will push them into a gay or lesbian relationship?

People don't "turn" gay. You are or you aren't.

Think about it for a second.

All of the gay people I know grew up in traditional homes with a mother and a father. Most of them were Mormon, too. They didn't wake up one morning and decide to be gay, they didn't go out of their way to make their lives harder, it's just who they are. Just like some people have blue eyes, some have dark skin, and some lack the ability to use common sense and reason.

Would you love your children any less if they were gay? Would you? Would you tell them that they had to leave the house if they came out to you? Would you treat them differently? Would you turn the unconditional love you once had for your child into hate? Do you realize how many people out there kill themselves because they feel there is something wrong with them because they are attracted to the same sex?

Why should straight couples have rights that gay couples don't?

Should Catholics have rights that Mormons don't?

Should Atheists have rights that Christians don't?

Why should people think they have the right to decide what others can or cannot do?

I mean, if anything gay marriage will help the economy! There is no reason whatsoever that this ban on gay marriage should have passed, and yet it did?


I wont get married until everyone has the right. If the Mormon Church or any other church wants to not perform gay marriages, I don't care. But you shouldn't take that away from everyone because *you* have a problem with it.

This is crazy, it's 2010 and we are still talking about basic civil rights in the United States of America?

If you want a "traditional" marriage. Have one. I won't stop you, and I wouldn't want to. However, when you tell me or anyone else what kind of marriage we should have, you are crossing the line.

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Yesterday was my birthday.

Another year older and another year wiser?

My ordered this little cake for me as a surprise :) It was dark chocolate cake with a raspberry filling in the middle and buttercream frosting. Absolutely delicious!!

I don't know about you guys, but I am a frosting lover and always ask for a corner piece when I can. Lucky for me this is just a little cake and it's ALL MINE!!! *Insert picture of Andee walking around her apartment in flannel pajamas with a happy birthday tiara and eating cake here*

*Hugs* to all my internet buddies out there. I will be updating the blog more after I come down from my sugar high :)

Andee

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For the record, I haven't really read much on the whole Tiger Woods mess. I did get to see Tiger a couple times in Orlando during events when I worked at the theme parks, and he always seemed like a nice enough guy.

So, apparently, he has had countless affairs and cheated on his wife more times than he can count. There are still mistresses coming out of the woodwork for their 15 minutes of fame and attention.

To be honest, I don't really think it's anyone's business. This is between Tiger and his family.

That certainly doesn't stop Brit Hume from FauxNews from telling the world that Tiger needs a little Jesus.



Here is what Keith Olbermann had to say on his show about Hume's comments:



I hate fauxNews as much as I hate religion.

Andee

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I have mentioned this story before, but I came across an article Christopher Hitchens wrote about the topic. It was linked in Christian Nightmares, be sure to check out that website if you haven't already. It's amazing. For the entire article in Vanity Fair, click here.

Some of the things that made me cringe?

...Lieutenant Colonel Gary Hensley, chief of the United States’ military chaplains in Afghanistan. He was telling his evangelical audience, all of them wearing uniforms supplied by the taxpayer, that as followers of Jesus Christ they had a collective responsibility “to be witnesses for him.” Heating up this theme, Lieutenant Colonel Hensley went on: “The Special Forces guys, they hunt men, basically. We do the same things, as Christians. We hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down. Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them in the kingdom. Right? That’s what we do, that’s our business.”

Holy Shit, right?

No, Hensley, your job is to fight the war on terror and come home safely to your family and friends. You job is to protect America from those who want to do harm to it.

It is *not* your job to go to other countries and "witness" to people who are already devoutly religious. Do you not see how fucking arrogant that is?



I would like to know this Chaplain's thoughts if a large group of Muslims came to the Unites States and started sharing their word with American children.

No wonder so much of the world thinks our heads are up our asses.

A certain Sergeant James Watt, a candidate for a military chaplaincy, is shown giving thanks for the work of his back-home church, which subscribed the dough. “I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out,” he beamingly tells his Bible-study class. In another segment, those present show quite clearly that they understand they are in danger of violating General Order Number One of the U.S. Central Command, which explicitly prohibits “proselytizing of any religion, faith, or practice.” A gathering of chaplains, all of them fed from the public trough, is addressed by Captain Emmit Furner, a military cleric who seems half in love with his own light-footed moral dexterity. “Do we know what it means to proselytize?” he asks his audience. A voice from the audience is heard to say, “It is General Order Number One.” To this Sergeant Watt replies: “You can’t proselytize but you can give gifts.… I bought a carpet and then I gave the guy a Bible after I conducted my business.”

Again, it shows that they know what they are doing is wrong according to the instructions given to them by the US Military. They just weasel their way around it.

...A Pentecostal chaplain warned cadets that they should accept Christ or “burn in hell.” About the latter incident, the air-force investigative panel decided to be lenient, on the perfectly good grounds that such language is “not uncommon” in this denomination.

I hate religion.

I hate it sooooo much.

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